Different Circumstances
by Anna Berry
Summary: Damon and Stefan didn't return to Mystic Falls until after Elena left for college. She's now returning to teach English and History at the high school. Our favourite vampires happen to be teachers at the school too. Probably a bit of Stelena and then Delena... I changed the rating to M for sexual references (at the very least) and (maybe) bad language... More details inside...
1. Chapter 1

**Different Circumstances**

A bit of background: Elena grew up in Mystic Falls, was told about her adoption and, being a founding family member, was eventually told about vampires too. However, coincidentally, neither of the Salvatore brothers returned to Mystic Falls until she had already left for college. Basically, she never had to deal with any vampires or the rest of the craziness in the series (except for the death of her parents and her rebellious little brother). So… No Originals (so far - we'll see what happens) and no travellers either. In fact, she and Katherine simply look alike, not identical. She's now returned home to start at Mystic Falls High School as an English/History teacher. For now, most of the characters are either still studying or have moved to big cities for work. We'll be seeing Bonnie (flashback to the beginning of season one and you'll remember the psychic and witchy talk but she didn't want to delve into it any further. Elena doesn't know anything more about witches than that) and I love Caroline but we probably won't see her – at least not for a while. We'll see what happens.

**Chapter 1**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries. I'm just borrowing the characters for fun.**

Relief. That's what Elena was feeling as she passed the familiar scenery, slowly making her way to the street on which she grew up. She peered out of the windscreen, looking at all of the familiar houses and streets, feeling an overwhelming sense of nostalgia. It had been so long since she had come to stay and she was suddenly regretting taking all of the summer classes that prevented her returning home over the breaks. As it was, she had only managed to return home with less than a week before she was needed for teacher planning and induction days at Mystic Falls High.

Eventually, Elena pulled up in front of the house. She was still deep in thought as she climbed out of the car, staring up at the house that held so many memories – but it was different now. Her memories were all positive. While still missing her parents and thinking of them every day, she now found that the sad memories had developed into fondness and a sense of remembering only the good, happy times she shared with them rather than the grief.

She was still standing next to the car, staring at the house, when she heard a cheerful voice call her name. Almost running down the front path, a huge smile on her face, her belly bulging and happiness seemingly radiating from her, was Aunt Jenna. Smiling, Ric followed closely behind Jenna. Wanting nothing more than a hug from a family member, Elena happily accepted Jenna's embrace, noticing just how large her baby bump had grown.

"My gosh, Jenna, you look ready to burst!" Elena hadn't seen Jenna since she heard the wonderful news of the coming baby. Jenna laughed at her niece's remark.

"Give me one more month and I just might! I'm looking like a whale at the moment though." Jenna joked, slapping her belly to emphasise her roundness. Elena laughed at her aunt. Phone conversations are one thing but she hadn't seen Jenna in such a long time. A catch up on the phone would never be the same as a hug.

"Look at you, though, you're practically glowing." Elena commented, determined to convince Jenna that the pregnancy was agreeing with her and she did not, in fact, look like a whale.

"Don't tell her that or she'll want more than one!" Ric said, finally joining the excited women who were still standing next to the car.

"Ric!" Elena cheered, catching Jenna's cheerfulness like a contagious disease and jumping at him to give him a hug. Then, in a mock serious tone, Elena added, "Suck it up, boy. You've got plenty more babies to make. I want lots of little cousins running around here!" She turned back to the car to get her bags out but Ric and Jenna didn't notice. They simply stood there, momentarily stunned. Though they knew Elena was joking, they had never seen this side of her before. She'd certainly grown up in the last few years. The flicker of confidence Elena had in her back when she was in high school had turned into a full-blown flame and they were both impressed. Eventually, after pulling all of her bags out of the car, Elena noticed her aunt and Ric weren't talking.

"What?" Elena asked, looking back and forth between the two of them.

"Someone's got spunk now!" Jenna teased, tossing Elena a grin.

"Me? No, I don't." Elena replied reflexively.

"Yeah, you do, Elena." Ric said, moving to help with the bags. Both of the ladies turned to look at him. "The question is," he said, lifting a bag, "how many guys hit on you before you realised you'd have to fight them off with more than your usual kind words?" Jenna chuckled at Ric's question. She knew that at college Elena would have countless guys falling over one another to have a chance with her. _And why wouldn't she?_ Jenna thought. Elena was a beautiful young lady who could have a chance with anyone she wanted but she also has a strong personality and strong beliefs. It was this knowledge that convinced Jenna of Elena's ability to cope with college boys.

On the other hand, Elena was rendered speechless by Ric's remark. She wanted to scold Ric for making that assumption, as harmless as it was, but she knew he was right. While at times, like most girls, she enjoyed the attention, she would certainly not miss the guys who threw themselves at her, convinced they were the most devilishly handsome men in the world. More often than not, she found that the guys who were actually seriously attractive were also seriously stupid. The greatest thing Elena Gilbert could say she learnt at college: Intelligence can be measured in many different ways…Just not by appearance. Knowing all of that, Elena hadn't noticed any changes in herself, especially not any added "spunk."

"Are you coming?" Jenna asked. Ric was already inside with an armful of Elena's luggage and Jenna was halfway up the path with one of Elena's many bags.

"Jenna, what are you doing, you crazy, pregnant lady?" Elena rushed up to her aunt and grabbed the bag she was carrying. Jenna laughed.

"Just trying to help." She said, handing the bag to her niece. "Ric doesn't let me do anything around the house anymore." She complained. Elena looked at her aunt in disbelief.

"You do know you're eight months pregnant, right? Ric's just doing the right thing."

"I know but–"

"No, no, no. I'll hear none of this." Elena cut Jenna off, smiling. "As long as Ric treats you well, you won't get any support from me." As soon as Elena had heard the wonderful news, she knew Ric would be taking good care of Jenna. She also knew what her aunt was like; one or two weeks of being taken care of would be manageable but Jenna would want no more babying than that.

Eventually, after Jenna accompanied Elena to her room, caught up with her and helped her unpack – a task Ric and Elena allowed her to do since it didn't require much heavy lifting or bending down – the two of them wandered downstairs for dinner. They were still chatting and laughing when they walked into the kitchen.

"And then he said…" Elena paused, distracted from her story by the delicious fragrances wafting around in the kitchen. "Wow, Ric, that smells amazing."

"Right?" Jenna said, clearly trying to prove a point to Ric. "See, I told you, you're a great chef." She said, hugging him and giving him a kiss.

"You're better." He said, hugging and kissing her back.

"No, I think I should stick to my specialty and you stick to yours."

With all the hugging and kissing that was going on, Elena began to feel a bit awkward. By no means did she mind that Jenna and Ric were so in love – they were so sweet together - but she decided to do something rather than standing there watching them kiss. Setting the table seemed like a good idea.

In no time at all, the three of them were sitting around the table eating the first meal they had shared in over three years. Elena hadn't felt more comfortable in a long time. This was her idea of downtime – spending some quiet time with two of the most important people in her life.

"So, five days and you'll be an actual teacher, Elena. Are you excited?" Elena groaned. As much as she loved teaching, she was looking forward to having a few days to unwind. She'd been working tirelessly over the duration of her studies and she was desperate for a break. So, was she looking forward to returning to Mystic Falls High after four years away?

"Not particularly." Elena chuckled. "I know I should be looking forward to it but I just feel like I need a break and some time to settle back in. Hopefully the next few days will be enough for that." She said between mouthfuls. "Besides, I'll have to work with that guy," she added in a theatrical whisper, motioning in Ric's direction. Jenna laughed as Ric grabbed his chest in mock heartache.

"I thought working with me was all you ever wanted!" He said, smiling at her cheek.

"I know," Jenna whispered back to Elena, "I don't know who that guy is but he seems to think he's pretty damn special."

"Says the woman who's been dating me for five years." Ric whined, sensing ahead of time that the girls were going to gang up on him until he caved. He knew they were joking but he also recognised that he wouldn't stand a chance if he tried to fight back. He might test the waters a bit later but for the time being, he felt it would be safest to just step down. _This_, Ric thought, _is going to be the only bad thing about Elena's new confidence – it's going to be too easy for them to double-team me._

Ric was going to need another guy around more to even out the numbers. That reminded him. Damon: his partner in crime. Ric and Jenna had already discussed the topic of telling Elena about Damon and they knew they needed to let her know before she met him otherwise she probably wouldn't figure it out. Jenna didn't seem to be following Ric's train of thought though.

"So, on the phone you mentioned a barbeque? When will that be? Tomorrow?" Elena asked.

"Yeah," Jenna replied, "tomorrow for dinner. It'll be a bit of a welcome home for you. We've invited some familiar faces and a few people you wouldn't know. Mostly, that'll be the people from the school, like Damon–" Jenna stopped, suddenly catching up to Ric's thoughts. She looked at him for some guidance. Elena was still enjoying her food far too much to notice that Jenna hadn't completed her thought.

"Actually, that reminds me. Damon's asked if his brother can come to the barbeque as well." Ric said. "Apparently, he's a new teacher at the school this year too." He was addressing Jenna, trying to be subtle in asking her if this was okay.

"Of course. We'll have everyone go around the side to reach the backyard anyway. That way we can avoid having unwanted visitors in the house." Jenna replied. She was hoping that, at this point, Elena might pick up on the subtle hints.

"No 'unwanted visitors.' Why don't you want anyone in the house? You sound like you're talking about vampires or something." Elena chuckled darkly. This was something she hadn't had to think about since before college. Once she left Mystic Falls, the journals of her ancestors seemed completely bizarre and imaginative. At times, she managed to convince herself that it was all make believe. After all, she'd never met a vampire. It was only the fact that Ric witnessed his wife being killed by a vampire that kept Elena believing all of it was real.

"Look, Elena, there's something we need to tell you." Ric said. His tone was light but his voice was serious enough to catch her attention. She looked between Jenna and Ric, trying to gauge the situation. When Elena recognised the serious expressions on their faces any remaining light-heartedness from before vanished.

"What is it, Ric?" She asked, now desperate to know what could be so serious. She didn't want to jump to conclusions but she had a sneaking suspicion that her worst fears were coming true. It couldn't be that the vampires she'd been trying to deny the existence of for the last four years were real and in Mystic Falls.

All pretences of light chatter given up on, Ric replied, "I have a friend at the school who is…Now, I need you to keep calm–" he paused, unsure of how she would respond to his next words.

"What, Ric?" Elena insisted, her worry growing.

The rest came out as a breath. "He's a vampire."


	2. Chapter 2

Something I didn't get a chance to say before... This is my first ever fanfic so please be nice. I'm not 100 percent sure of where it's going yet - I don't even know if it's going to be Delena or Stelena (I'm Delena all the way but I think it's natural to follow the Stelena and THEN Delena progress that occurred in the show) - it's just going to be a bit of fun… Maybe a little M-rated later but I'm not sure yet. We'll see what I'm comfortable writing. Please review and give feedback but PLEASE make it either positive or constructive. Anyway… Thanks for reading!

Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries. I'm just borrowing the characters for fun.**

The concerned expression on Elena's face had vanished. She was showing no emotion at all. Jenna and Ric decided to explain everything about Damon all at once.

"Damon Salvatore–"

"Not a bad guy–"

"Only feeds from blood bags–"

"History department–"

"From a founding family too–"

"Lives over at the Salvatore Boarding House–"

On and on the nervous explanations went until Elena stopped them with,

"A vampire?"

"Yes." They responded in unison.

"And you're okay with that? I mean, you're friends with him?" She asked.

"Yes." They replied, again in unison.

Elena composed her features and looked back and forth between Jenna and Ric. Were they joking? That would make things easier, if this was all just a practical joke. But no, they looked as worried as she felt a moment ago. _They're friends with him_, she thought, _even if he's a vampire. But they're friends with him, he can't be entirely bad._ But she was led to believe from her family journals that all vampires are evil. Her mind tumbled around and around in circles, not knowing whether to believe the family journals or to trust Jenna and Ric. That made her mind up. Jenna and Ric are my family, she thought. She would trust them with her life.

"Alright." Elena said, seemingly calm.

"Alright?" Asked Ric. "What does that mean?" He turned to Jenna for an explanation. She simply shrugged, still staring at Elena.

"Alright means it's okay, Ric. It's safe to breathe now." Elena let a nervous laugh escape.

Slowly, they both came out of the shock they felt at her response and looked at her.

"Are you sure you're okay with this, Elena?" Jenna asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I mean, you're both friends with him and I'll meet him tomorrow, right?" She asked Ric. He nodded. "Okay, so I'll see him tomorrow and maybe then I can draw my own conclusions about him. At least until then, I can be okay with it." She smiled kindly at them.

"Wow. That's good to hear." Jenna laughed, relieved that Elena didn't freak out on them.

"Yeah," Ric smiled, "you took that really well, Elena."

Evidently she'd convinced them that she was calm. Good. To be honest, she was strangely calm about it.

"But what did you say about a brother?" She asked.

"Yeah, good question. When did Damon talk to you about this?" Jenna asked.

"Just today, actually, when you were at the store. He didn't seem thrilled about it but he wanted to check that we were happy for him to come along. I forgot to tell you when you got home." Ric replied. "I figured we'd be inviting people around the back anyway. Exactly like you said, 'no unwanted visitors.'" Jenna just nodded, seemingly unconcerned.

"So, have you met his brother before?" Elena asked.

"No but if they really are brothers, he'd have to be a vampire too. Damon said he's weird though – in a harmless way. I'm not sure what to expect." Ric said.

"That's strange. Well, I'm sure Damon wouldn't bring him over here, let alone let him work in the school, if he wasn't safe." Jenna commented.

"Yeah, you're right. I suppose all we can do is wait until tomorrow." Jenna decided.

"Hmmm," Elena wondered out loud, attempting to lighten the mood again. "How does one take the news that they're going meet a vampire or two tomorrow? I wonder if there's formal etiquette for it." She teased. "We should finish our food. It's probably cold now."

Their food was getting cold but it was still delicious and after several more compliments on Ric's cooking, the mood lightened again.

It wasn't long until they were finishing their wine while watching some evening television. All three of them were savouring this. It was something Ric and Jenna missed while Elena was at college. The sense of family when the three of them were together, or four when Jeremy was around, was something they all appreciated due to the losses each of them had suffered. But the evening had to draw to a close and Elena announced that she was heading to bed.

"Well, goodnight. I'm still pretty tired from that drive. You two should go to bed as well." She added in a motherly tone.

"Yes, Mum!"

"Goodnight, Elena!" She heard them call as she headed up the stairs. Instead of heading to bed though, they sat for a few more hours with Ric dozing on the couch and Jenna reading a book.

"She took the news better than I expected." Jenna commented to Ric when they finally took Elena's advice and were on their way to bed.

"Yeah, she did. I'll be interested to see what happens when he tries to make a move though." He chuckled.

"What? He wouldn't, would he?" Jenna asked, shocked that Damon might actually try to hit on Elena. Until now, she had been deluding herself into thinking that, out of respect for her and Ric, he might actually hold back for once.

"Jenna, he's Damon Salvatore and Elena is intellectually and physically attractive. Do you truly think he wouldn't at least try to make a move on her?" Jenna looked at him in horror. They both knew, as much as they appreciated Damon's friendship, that once he sets his sights on a woman, she never stands a chance. "Don't worry, Jenna. Elena has a fire in her that, just a few years ago, she didn't have. She's very strong. I think that if he tries anything, she'll give him a run for his money."

"You're right. Well, good luck to him. He'll need it." Jenna laughed at the thought of Elena turning down the amazing Damon Salvatore.

Elena had a hard time getting to sleep that night. _No doubt due to the fact that I'm going to meet a vampire tomorrow_, she thought.

She sighed and rolled over. From this position, she could see the photos of her childhood, bathed in moonlight, over on the dresser. Her head filled with memories of her childhood, her parents and her brother, she eventually fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter**** 3**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries. I'm just borrowing the characters for fun.**

When Elena woke up the next morning, she could smell bacon. On a quest to find the source of the delicious smell, she wandered downstairs. What she found was a stark contrast to the last time she witnessed Jenna trying to prepare breakfast. While, once upon a time, she was only able to get some coffee ready and provide lunch money, she was now preparing a full gourmet breakfast.

"Wow, Jenna, you learnt to go all out on breakfast, huh? When did this happen?"

Jenna laughed, turning to face Elena. "Well, dinner is Ric's specialty and breakfast is mine now." She smiled at Elena, clearly proud that she was now able to do the parent thing. She turned back to the stove and called over her shoulder, "It should be ready in about 20 minutes so go get ready while you're waiting." Elena spun around, about to head upstairs to get ready, when she collided with a wall. No, it wasn't a wall – it was a chest. A very solid chest, a very solid chest that belonged to a man she didn't know.

Elena looked at the ridiculously handsome face staring at her and was immediately struck by the cocky smirk on the man's lips and his blue eyes, looking up and down her figure. Not bothering with subtlety, he was blatantly taking in her appearance.

"Are you done adding me to your spank bank?" Elena asked, deciding to match this stranger's bluntness. She knew she had a good figure and she knew that what she was wearing, a small pair of bed shorts and a tank top, would not be helping her cause but she'd be damned if she let a man stand there and check her out without at least calling him on it, even if he was as attractive as this guy.

Her words simply drew his eyes to her face, still not speaking, he absorbed every feature and still kept that damn smirk on his lips.

"Hello," Elena said, making no attempt to hide her annoyance, "Are you done? Care to introduce yourself before you fantasise about me?" That seemed to snap him out of it.

"Sorry," he said, composing his features into something more polite and less arrogant, "you're just so incredibly beautiful–" Elena scoffed, seeing straight through the charm. He had been caught blatantly checking her out, making _her_ feel uncomfortable in her own home. There was no way she was going to buy any of this charm.

"Who are you?" She demanded, not willing to humour him by acting flattered. Then she heard Ric coming down the stairs.

"Jenna, she's already up–" Ric started, having obviously just checked in Elena's room. "Damon!" He said, clearly surprised.

_So, this is Damon Salvatore_, she thought, _the vampire Jenna and Ric warned me about last night?_ Honestly, she had completely forgotten about that conversation overnight but in a matter of moments, it all came rushing back and she was thoroughly unimpressed. She hadn't even realised that Ric and Damon were talking. It seemed that Damon often popped over before the school day to visit and he and Ric would carpool to the school together. From the sounds of it though, Ric and Jenna weren't expecting Damon this morning.

"Sorry, I kind of just assumed we would carpool today…" Damon was saying to Ric, tossing pointed glances in Elena's direction, clearly asking for an introduction. Ric sighed.

"Fine. Damon, this is Elena, Jenna's niece. Elena, this is Damon, the one I mentioned last night." Damon extended his hand to Elena but when Elena, not wanting to be rude to Ric's friend, placed her hand in Damon's, rather than shaking it, he pressed his lips against it. Behind Damon, Ric groaned, rolled his eyes and walked into the kitchen.

"Elena, it's an absolute pleasure to meet you."

Elena was surprised by such an old gesture but was still thoroughly unimpressed by this cocky vampire, posing as a sweet gentleman.

She wanted to call him on being such an obvious player but her politeness won out. "Nice to meet you too."

As soon as was possible, she removed her hand from his grasp and walked upstairs. On her way, she could feel his eyes following her, making her uncomfortable but she was too determined and proud to let that show.

Putting the incredibly handsome and cocky Damon Salvatore as far from her mind as possible, Elena got ready for her first day as a teacher at Mystic Falls High. Though they wouldn't be seeing any students until the following week, most of the teachers at the school would already know her so she was determined to present herself in a way that would tell them that she's now an adult. The weather was quite warm so, after her shower, she was feeling a bit overheated and she decided on a dress. It was conservative with a high neckline, a cut-off just above her knees, short sleeves and a solid grey colour. However conservative it was, it was very flattering, fitting to her curves and she slipped a thick black belt on to brake up the solid colour. She pulled her hair back into a neat bun, slipped on her shoes and went downstairs for breakfast.

Before entering the kitchen, she paused to brace herself. She knew she would need to be on her A-game if she was going to face Damon again. She could hear Jenna and Ric talking but no one else. Good, she thought, he must have left already.

"Everything alright?" Someone whispered in her ear.

"Jesus Christ!" She shouted as she jumped out of her skin and spun around to face Damon, giving him the most severe dirty look she was capable of. "Everything is fine, thank you. I was just hoping you'd already left."

He took a step back from her and laughed at her comment. "Sorry to disappoint you, Beautiful. By the way, if those are your worst daggers, the kids at work are going to walk all over you." Elena was stunned. She had braced herself for a fake gentleman, not a rude dickhead.

Just as she began to form a response, he added, "Though, if you make a habit of wearing clothes like that, you'll at least have the boys' attention."

She was stunned into absolute silence. Usually, her wits were much sharper than this but this man seemed to have a knack for catching her off guard. At the risk of behaving like a child, she huffed at him and went to walk into the kitchen but he grabbed her shoulders and spun her back around to face him. His posture became intimidating as he said, "Ric and Jenna told me that you know what I am. If you tell anyone–"

"Are you thick? I'm a founding family member, why do you think I would tell anyone?" This seemed to surprise him.

"Ric said you were adopted–"

"I don't know why he thought you needed to know that but yes, I was adopted…by my uncle. I'm still a Gilbert so, back off, Damon."

While Elena's posture remained defiant, after hearing this, for some reason she couldn't explain, Damon's posture changed. She took his momentary lapse in attention to slip into the kitchen. It was getting late and if they didn't leave soon, they would be arriving at the school late. After a few moments, having recovered from whatever had surprised him in the hallway, Damon slipped back into the room and joined them at the table but Elena was too busy eating and chatting with Ric and Jenna to pay him any attention.

In an effort to continue being polite, Elena agreed to drive to the school in Damon's car. When they pulled up in the staff parking lot, Elena scurried out of the car, said a quick "See you later" to Ric, threw Damon a "Thanks for the lift" and made a beeline straight to the administration building.

"Hi, my name's Elena Gilbert, I'm a new teacher here and I was told to come here for a meeting today." Elena told the familiar face behind the reception desk.

"Elena Gilbert? Were you a student here?" _Yes, of course the first person I saw recognised my face._ Elena sighed on the inside. She remembered this woman too but couldn't put a name to the face as she spent very little time in the front office as a student.

"Yeah, I was." Elena said, with as much friendliness as she could manage. She didn't want to be remembered as a student. Then again, it would be nice to see some familiar faces.

"Well, come on through, Elena." The receptionist said, leading Elena down an unfamiliar hallway. It's nice to have you back. Teachers always love seeing their students follow in their footsteps. It's a very high compliment to them, I think. Anyway, I'm sure they'll be thrilled to see you." _Wow_, Elena thought, _this woman likes to chat._ She kept her expression as pleasantly interested as possible until she heard a piece of information that caught her attention. "There are two other new members of staff starting this year. I'm sure you'll all get along well. Anyway, your meeting's through here." Elena was directed to a door titled "Board Room".

"Thank you." Elena smiled kindly and knocked on the door.

"Come in." Called a familiar voice. _It couldn't be_, she thought. _No way_. She turned the handle and the door swung open to reveal one of her best friends, Bonnie, grinning from ear to ear.

There were excited squeals and hugs before either of them knew what was happening. Thankfully, they were the first to arrive at the meeting so they weren't acting like schoolgirls in front of anyone other than themselves.

"What are you doing here," Elena asked her friend "and why didn't you tell me you were coming?" Bonnie knew, of course, that Elena was going back to teach at their old school but she hadn't told her that she would be returning to the school too.

"I wanted to surprise you," she said, her face still stretched into a huge grin, "and when Ric said you would be at the meeting today–"

"Wait, Ric and Jenna know?" Bonnie shook her head.

"Only Ric knows. I was hoping we could surprise Jenna too." Throughout their high schooling, Bonnie, Caroline and Elena had been very close but in their final year or two, Jenna had become their fourth musketeer. Elena knew her Aunt would be thrilled to see Bonnie and perhaps she could get some satisfaction out of seeing someone react as crazily as she did.

The girls chatted for a few minutes, Bonnie confirming that she was taking her degree in social work and using it to be a counsellor at Mystic Falls High, before Elena thought to ask, "Wait, is there actually a meeting in here this morning or did you just set me up?" Bonnie laughed.

"No, there really is a meeting. I was just lucky you walked in when you did. Your reaction was priceless."

Just as Bonnie finished what she was saying, the door opened, revealing two figures. One was the headmaster of the school and the other was an amazing body with a gorgeous face that contained the most stunning green eyes Elena had ever seen. Elena and Bonnie both sat, mesmerised by this man's green eyes, only breaking out of their stupor when the headmaster cleared his throat. They stood up together, shaking the headmaster's hand.

"Bonnie, Elena, it's wonderful to have you back. Welcome. Now, this is Stefan. He'll be joining you in the English department, Elena." Stefan reached forward to shake Elena's hand but when his hand touched Bonnie's, Elena noticed a very slight flinch. Elena tried to catch Bonnie's eye, wondering why something as insignificant as shaking the hand of such an attractive man would make a person flinch but Bonnie gave nothing away. Her expression and demeanour remained friendly but Elena knew her friend well enough to know that she should now be wary of this new man, Stefan.

"It's nice to meet you both." He said.

"You too." Elena replied on behalf of the pair as Bonnie simply smiled.

Their morning passed quickly, reading and watching induction videos while studying maps of escape routes and instructions of what to do in an emergency. Throughout the whole morning, Bonnie remained calm but Elena could tell that she was not comfortable with Stefan around. She wondered what Bonnie could possibly know that would make her mistrust a man before she even got to know him. None of the three of them had done much talking since they were introduced, except for the odd comment between Elena and Bonnie. So, when the principal returned at the end of the final video, they were quite relieved.

"We're having a catered lunch in the staff room." He announced, inviting the three newcomers to follow him. He led them down a corridor to the staff room, another room Bonnie and Elena had never entered before. Before sending them in to mingle, however, he called everyone's attention to him.

"Good afternoon everyone. To those of you I haven't had a chance to catch up with yet, welcome back to a new year at Mystic Falls High. We have three new additions to our staff this year. Some of you may remember former students, Elena Gilbert and Bonnie Bennett, who have been studying hard for the last four years and have decided to return to us in Mystic Falls. Elena will be joining the English and History faculties this year and Bonnie has studied social work to become a counsellor. Thank you both for joining us. Our third addition to the staff this year is Stefan Salvatore who will be joining the English faculty also…" _Salvatore_, Elena thought, _another founding family member. Perhaps.._. As if he was reading her mind, the headmaster continued, "…Stefan's actually the brother of our very own Damon Salvatore." He nodded towards Damon in the crowd, who looked as though he was ready to hit something. _Yep, there we go. That's Damon's brother. The weird-in-a-harmless-way brother._..* But Bonnie flinched when she touched his hand._.. _What was that about? We didn't take all that psychic* _and witch stuff too seriously back in high school but she's never been wrong about any of her hunches before… What does she know?_

"I'd like all of you to welcome our new staff members and make them feel at home." The headmaster finally finished, the end of his speech punctuated by a smattering of applause. Elena turned to Bonnie after a moment.

"Can I have a word please?" She asked, leading Bonnie back down the corridor they entered through, wanting to get her away from the crowd.

"What's up?" Bonnie asked, unwilling to be an open book.

"What was that? Before, when you shook Stefan's hand, what happened? Why did you flinch?" Elena asked, getting straight to the point.

"Um, well, you know those random hunches I used to get? You know, all that witch talk and stuff?" Elena nodded. So far, this conversation was going exactly where she expected. "He's a vampire, Elena." That shocked her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

I wrote half of this chapter a LONG time ago and continued more recently so I apologise for any changes in tense and/or writing style.

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries. I'm just borrowing the characters for fun.**

"He's a vampire, Elena."

"What?" Elena asked, her surprise genuine, just not about what Bonnie expected.

"You know, Elena, he's a vampire. Don't tell me you never heard the stories. You're a founding family member for goodness' sake."

"Whoa. Slow down a second. I know the stories but how do you know them?" Elena asked, figuring all pretences of ignorance were gone.

"Just like your family, my family keeps records too and we pass them down from generation to generation. I only learnt about it a year ago but since then I've come across three vampires, excluding Stefan. They're heaps more common than you'd think. I've also developed my powers a lot." Bonnie was talking about it so casually that it shocked Elena. Bonnie was one of the few people Elena thought might never need to know about the vampires of Mystic Falls but it turned out she was wrong. It seemed that it was as much a part of Bonnie's family history as it was hers. She was not bitter though, not resentful that Elena had never shared this information with her. She knew why her friend would want to keep her out of the loop if it was possible – she would try to do the same for any of her friends.

"Well, if we're going to be perfectly honest, there's more than one on the teaching staff." Elena said. "Stefan's brother, Damon, is one too but he's friends with Jenna and Ric."

"Really? Do they know?" Bonnie asked, surprised by the news.

"Yep and they're okay with it. Apparently he's not such a bad guy. Though, from what I've seen, I'd argue to the contrary." Elena laughed and Bonnie, after pausing to absorb all the information she'd just received, joined her in laughter. It was a combination of nerves and relief escaping for both of them.

"Hmm, I liked what I was hearing until that last bit." They heard Damon say as he approached them in the corridor. "You're not very nice to me, you know, Elena." Bonnie's eyes widened, growing fearful of the approaching threat but still standing her ground. She knew she could defend herself and Elena but she wasn't sure whether or not she would need to in a circumstance such as this. This uncertainty is what made her uneasy.

"Go away, Damon." Elena sighed.

"But we've been asked to welcome the new staff members. I was just coming over to be nice." He said, slowly edging towards them. "So, I see you didn't hold true to your promise. Just this morning I ask you to keep your mouth shut about my secret and yet here you are, blabbing away to Witchy." At this point, he had come so close to Elena that he was entering her personal space.

"Back off, Damon." Elena said, pushing him away. To his credit, he let her push him. She knew he could have easily continued standing his ground against her but he took a step back.

"Damon." It was Stefan, walking down the corridor to join the three of them.

"Ah, brother, you've come to join the corridor party, have you? Ladies, I believe you've already met Saint Stefan." Damon taunted.

"No, I've just come to make sure you're not harassing anyone." He turned to Bonnie and Elena, "I apologise, it's an annoying habit of his."

"Just checking out the fresh meat." Damon replied, obviously trying to make everyone in the vicinity feel uncomfortable.

"Very funny, Damon." Stefan glared at his brother before turning to Bonnie and Elena. "I'm sorry about my brother." He looked back and forth between the two girls, both of them looking like they didn't trust a word that came out of his mouth. "I couldn't help overhearing that you both know the truth about what we are. Damon has been living here for over two years now and my intent is to stay here too, making it my home again. I can assure you that Damon and I won't cause any harm to you or anyone in this town. You can take my word on that and I'm sure that a Gilbert and a Bennett can be trusted with our secret." Both girls were shocked by the obvious honesty in Stefan's voice. He seemed to really mean what he was saying and it was clear that there were bad feelings between the two brothers.

All the while, Damon was rolling his eyes and Elena knew that, as genuine as Stefan appeared, there was no way she could trust him. She was raised to know better. However, before she had a chance to vocalise her deep rooted mistrust of their kind, they were approached by the headmaster and whisked away to mingle with the rest of the crowd.

Elena tried to keep her head in the game as she floated around the staff room, mingling with some of her former teachers and meeting those who had joined the staff in recent years. As the staff members milled around the room, it became increasingly difficult to focus on remaining professional and courteous when she was constantly trying to remain aware of her surroundings and the locations of Bonnie, Damon and Stefan. She knew the vampires wouldn't try anything in such a crowded place but her instincts and years of warnings against the "demons of the night" told her to be cautious anyway.

Soon enough, Bonnie was whisked away to a support staff meeting while the English staff members were told to head to their faculty meeting. Sure enough, the first faculty meeting of school year began with introductions for the sake if the new staff members and Elena was reminded of the tedious around-the-circle first tutorial meet-and-greet in every topic she studied on her way to this moment. _I guess things don't change much_ _after college_…

Everyone was eager to hear the reasons Elena gave for returning to her old high school. Those who had known her mother knew that she had always encouraged her to journal everyday and they were proud that she had continued to pursue her love of English and writing. Others, the more cynical members of the faculty, thought she was crazy to return.

"It's a big world out there. There are so many other opportunities for young people such as yourself." They were saying. _Just because you should have retired 10 years ago_, she thought. She remembered these teachers from her time as a student at the school. They were the disenchanted type who received very little respect from students because they no longer cared about their work.

"Really, Elena, why would you join the teaching field?" At this stage, Elena was getting tired of the negativity. These former teachers of hers were talking down to her like she was still a student and, as a result, she was ready to get snappy with some of her new co-workers. However, she was stopped before she could even get started.

"I think it's fantastic that you chose to return to your old high school, Elena." It was Stefan. "Surely some of your former teachers should be honoured that you felt inspired enough to study teaching _and_ comfortable enough to return here in a _teaching_ capacity." He looked challengingly at a few of the teachers around the room who had been criticising Elena's decisions. "After all, correct me if I'm wrong - you've all been here longer than I have- but you need to be passionate about this profession or you'll never succeed." He punctuated his statement by looking Elena directly in the eyes. She couldn't help but smile in thanks. He had stepped in before she managed to make a bad impression on her first day.

"You're absolutely right, Stefan." Replied one of the female faculty members who had been supportive of Elena from the beginning. Elena recognised her from back when her parents were alive but she couldn't remember her name. "I apologise, Elena, for the rudeness of my co-workers." She smiled warmly at Elena and Stefan. "People tend to stick around in this profession for far too long." She glared at a few of her colleagues. "Anyway, to continue the introductions, I'm Carol Lockwood. Yes, I'm Mayor Lockwood's wife but please try to forget that. I'm here because just like most of you," she threw a glance at the Negative Nancys in the room, "I love to teach and I'm thrilled to see a familiar face _and _a fresh face joining our faculty." Elena and Stefan both smiled in thanks and the introductions continued.

After the dangerous almost-outburst earlier, Elena remained extra attentive and professional for the rest of the meeting. She was puzzled by the fact that Stefan had decided to step in and stand up for her earlier. _What reason would a vampire have to defend me?_ She wondered. _Unless he's trying to gain my trust. Tough luck for him, that's never going to happen. _

She did, however, pay careful attention to the reason he gave for being in Mystic Falls. Apparently, he had just finished college and he decided to move to Mystic Falls because Damon was the closest family he had. _If they're close_, Elena thought, _I don't want to imagine the relationships they have with people they don't like._

As it was, the meeting concluded soon afterwards with, courtesy of Carol Lockwood, the teachers receiving details of the upcoming town events that the English department would be involved in. All of the teachers returned to the staff room and it was announced that any staff members who were not involved in the art and music departments were welcome to head home since the other faculty meetings were scheduled for the following day.

At this stage, feeling relieved at the end of her first day and with her head almost entirely vampire-free, Elena was on a mission to find Bonnie so that they could organise surprising Jenna. The girls quickly figured out a plan and Bonnie had driven herself to the school that morning which meant that Elena didn't need to catch a ride home with Damon, _thank god. _

Out of courtesy, Elena sent Ric a quick text - she didn't want to risk running into Damon - letting him know that she was getting a lift home with Bonnie.

Elena: Hey Ric, just letting you know that I'm getting a lift home with Bonnie so we can surprise Jenna. Oh and I can't believe you managed to keep that from me! Great surprise! Thank you.

Ric: Wait! No, you can't surprise her without me! I'm one of the masterminds here, remember? I didn't get to see your reaction so I'm not missing out on seeing Jenna's.

Elena: Hahaha ok Ric. Get your arse into gear and get home then. Bonnie is going to wait outside and come and knock on the door… "Unexpectedly…" We're leaving the school now.

Ric: Sounds good. I'll see you guys there.

**Ok… So what are we thinking? Has anyone read this far? I'm sorry, I feel like I lost my way a bit in this chapter but I hope I'll get back on track.**

**The only trouble is I'm not entirely sure where the story is going yet… I've got some ideas but it's not quite enough to form a full story yet. Any ideas are welcome… **

**Please review! Thanks for reading :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**AN: **Hey guys! Thanks for reading and the alerts/follows/favourites. A special thank you to inferno-candy and princesslolitatheorca654 for reviewing. Thank you SO much. It's very encouraging!

**As always… I don't claim to own TVD, I'm just pinching the characters and playing with them for fun :)**

"Back from your hunting party?" Damon asked when as brother walked in the door. He was sitting in front of the fireplace, sipping from a glass of blood.

"What are you doing here? I thought you'd be at the Gilbert house already." Stefan replied, pouring a glass of scotch.

Damon groaned, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, they wanted to surprise Jenna with the unexpected homecoming of Little Miss Witch… You know I hate ridiculous sentimental gestures." He looked at his brother. "And you didn't answer my question. How was your hunt? How's the bunny diet treating you?"

"Don't mock me, Damon. You know why I don't drink human blood." He poured a glass of scotch and joined his brother in front of the fireplace. "What time are you heading to the party?"

"Soon, I think." There was a long pause. It was clear to Damon that his brother wanted to say something and it was probably going to result in an argument so, rather than pushing his brother and rushing into another of their usual fights, he just waited for Stefan to speak.

"Look, Damon, about what happened earlier." Stefan paused to gauge his brothers reaction. He was talking about the conversation they had with Bonnie and Elena at the school that day and he wanted to make sure they were on the same page about this. "Don't make me break the promise I made to Elena Gilbert and Bonnie Bennett. I meant it when I said that I want to stick around and make this place home again."

Damon looked at his brother in disbelief. He had been living in Mystic Falls for over two years and not once in that time had he given the townspeople any reason to mistrust him. In fact, he'd given them reasons to trust him. Most of the founding families knew what he was. Liz Forbes, Carol Lockwood and the Founders Council knew and he had their support and trust as long as he didn't hurt anyone. Yes, he drank human blood but it was almost always from a blood bag. There had been a few cases of snatch, eat, erase but he always dealt with things properly. _Maybe that's not what Stefan's talking about_, he wondered. _Elena's an attractive girl and, well, god knows Stefan and I have the same taste in women. This is probably one of his little jealous moments. Yeah, look at that face, that's definitely a jealous-posing-as-concerned face. Screw it, I'm not going to make this easy for him. He can say it outright._

"What are you talking about, Stefan? You know I've been on my best behaviour for the last two years…" Damon said, deliberately making it difficult for his brother to make his point.

"Damon, you know what I mean. I'm talking about your little intimidation tactic. They weren't wearing vervain. Yes, they know about us so they may be drinking it but you could have easily compelled them to keep them quiet -"

"But I didn't."

"That's what worries me." Stefan replied with an unsurprising degree of concern. _Typical_, Damon thought with a dark chuckle, _he's playing the white knight card. The hero to all!_ "Look, Damon, you may have decided against compelling them out of respect for Alaric and Jenna…" - _alrighty then, clearly "them" means "Elena"_, Damon thought - "but I know the games you like to play. You never compel the women you're trying to seduce because it takes the fun out of it for you. They both seem like nice girls. They deserve better than being hit on by a vampire."

_I knew it_, Damon mused, that all too familiar annoyance with his brother was making its way in, _we're falling into the same trap again. Well, I'll be damned if I let my brother tell me what to do._

"Stefan, let's pretend for one minute that this isn't coming from a place of jealousy." Damon replied, letting a little of his frustration seep into his words. "And that we're talking about Elena _and_ Bonnie." He paused for a moment to let that sink in. "Clearly you and I have pulled off our usual act of developing an interest in the same girl. First of all, I'm not going to let you tell me what to do. Surely you know better than that. Second, you're not in any place to talk, Mr. Knight-In-Shining-Armour. Yes, Carol told me all about your heroic defence of the lovely Miss-Elena-Gilbert-Damsel-In-Distress during the English faculty meeting." Again, Damon paused to let his words sink in. "Finally, you clearly didn't meet the same Elena Gilbert I met. She's not just 'a nice girl', she's got spunk. Believe me, she can stick up for herself." With that response, Damon was feeling pretty good about himself. Stefan clearly didn't have a retort so Damon quickly downed the rest of his drink and threw Stefan an arrogant, "See you at the party, brother," before making his way upstairs to shower and get ready.

As he prepared himself for the party, Damon considered the "discussion" he just had with his brother. Stefan's comment about Damon not compelling the women he seduced was true. There was no point denying that. Everyone who knew Damon knew that he loved reeling in an attractive woman but those women knew exactly what they were getting themselves into - with the exception of the vampire part, of course - it was never anything serious. Not only that but they would trip over themselves to try to get the attention of the famous Damon Salvatore.

Elena Gilbert, on the other hand, was an entirely different story. When he met her that morning, she had called him out on checking her out. While that was a common reaction to that trick, most women called him on it but liked the attention. Yes, it was a sad reflection on their self-esteem but it was an almost fool-proof strategy to get them into bed. There was no way anyone would ever catch Damon complaining about that.

Elena was an entirely different story though. Not only had she called him out on checking her out, she hadn't fallen for "The Gentleman" strategy either. She was unbelievably attractive, sassy and witty: an unbeatable combination. He was intrigued and he wanted to get to know her better.

_Get to know her? What the hell are you thinking?_ Damon chastised himself. _You may want to sleep with her but when do you ever want to "get to know" a woman?_ The last time he got too close to a woman, he had his heart broken. He wasn't going to make that mistake again. _Seducing her would certainly be a challenge though. Not many women are so self-confident and intelligent… I'm thinking this may be a challenge I'm willing to accept…_

**A/N: **Apologies for the short chapter. I really hope this doesn't make our boys come across as jerks. Hopefully it's a relatively believable depiction of them both (keep in mind that it's from Damon's point of view so what I believe to be his perception of his brother influenced my writing a bit)…

Just a heads up: I've had the last few days off but I don't usually get this much free time. I'm going to try to add to the story regularly but I can't make any promises since I only usually have one day off a week. I'll aim for a chapter a week though. Hope that's ok :)

Please review. Any suggestions are welcome. Cheers guys! :)


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Well, hello again lovely readers :) Thank you for everything!

I've had a review requesting some Damon and Jeremy or Tyler and Elena bonding. I've certainly read stories on that take prompts such as this but the rules of the site say I'm not supposed to do "create your own" stories or take those types of prompts (at least, that's how I understood the rules when I read them). Having said that, I do always ask for advice and Jeremy will be getting a special mention soon anyway. Along with that, I'm hoping I can get him into the story sooner rather than later so that I can achieve this request for character bonding.

I'm sure you'll all be able to follow but last chapter was a bit of a "Meanwhile, at the Salvatore Boarding House…" So this chapter takes place immediately following Chapter Four. I hope you all enjoy it. I love playing with these characters. I really, really do.

**Disclaimer:** **I do not own TVD at all. I'm just having a bit of fun with some awesome characters :)**

**Chapter 6**

Elena: Hahaha ok Ric. Get your arse into gear and get home then. Bonnie is going to wait outside and come and knock on the door… "Unexpectedly…" We're leaving the school now.

Ric: Sounds good. I'll see you guys there.

Alaric looked up from his phone to find Damon. He needed to get home as soon as possible so they could surprise Jenna. He glanced around the staff room and spotted Damon on the other side of the room, talking to Carol Lockwood. As he approached the pair, he caught the end of their conversation.

"Well, that's my brother," Damon was saying as he rolled his eyes, "Always the hero."

"He seems like such a nice guy, Damon. Is he… I mean, is he, you know, like you?" Carol asked awkwardly.

"He is but don't worry, he's even less of a threat than I am." Damon had a disgusted expression on his face.

Ric, who was now close enough to casually slip into the conversation, laughed. "What's that look about, Damon? Is this to do with the 'weird in a harmless way' thing?"

Damon, who had obviously been distracted by a less-than-pleasant memory, turned to Ric, "Yes, but…" He gestured to behind Ric. A few of their colleagues had moved within earshot, "I'll explain later."

"Fair enough." Ric turned to Carol. "I'm sorry to interrupt but I need to steal Damon for his taxi services."

Damon, who had taken his prompt and was now putting his jacket on, addressed Carol, "Will you be coming to the party tonight? I can fill you in then."

"I'm not sure yet if we'll be able to make it." She replied.

"Well, if you can make it, you know you're more than welcome." Ric said politely. "There will be plenty of food for everyone and it'll be a great chance to catch up."

"If not, we'll see you tomorrow." Damon said as they made their way out of the staff room.

"What's the hurry?" Damon asked as they climbed into his car.

"The girls want to surprise Jenna with Bonnie's arrival and I want to be there to see it." Ric replied.

"Seriously, Ric? Sometimes you're such a girl."

"And sometimes you're such an arse."

"Well, we all knew that already."

Ric laughed. It was true. Damon was the least agreeable person he'd ever met and he really wasn't sure how they became friends. In fact, Ric actually hated Damon to begin with. He was a womanizer, a vampire, and basically everything Ric hated in a person. Yet, somehow, he had morals. He didn't kill people to feed and yes, he liked to play the field by preying on women with weaknesses such as daddy issues and low self-esteem but he had standards. Ric knew Damon would never take advantage of a woman which is why, even though he loved Elena like a daughter, he didn't worry about telling Damon to stay away from her. _Not that he would have listened to me anyway, _Ric thought_. Anyway, what could I possibly have threatened him with? It doesn't matter anyway. Elena isn't weak. There's no way she would fall for any of Damon's usual tricks. But speaking of Elena…_

"I noticed you and Stefan had a bit of a chat to Bonnie and Elena at lunch today." Ric enquired.

"We did indeed." Damon replied, taking his eyes away from the road for a moment to look at Ric. "Why do you mention it?" Damon asked.

"Well, I was just going to-"

"Wait, Ric, are you going to give me the protective father speech?!" Damon was clearly thoroughly amused by the thought.

"No, Damon. I thought about it but I knew there was no point." He glared at his friend for proving his speculations correct. "I was actually just going to ask what that was about. You and Stefan don't seem very close and Bonnie doesn't know what you are. So what could both you and Stefan want with Elena?"

_Oh Lordy, poor, unassuming Ric just asked an unbelievably loaded question_, Damon laughed. "Wow, Ric, that's a lot of ground for me to cover." He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts before explaining. "First of all, Bonnie _does_ actually know about Stefan and I. I'm not going to explain it all to you but her family goes as far back in this town as mine does… Maybe even further actually…" After this statement, Damon glanced over at his friend. Alaric looked genuinely surprised by this news. _Alright, clearly Ric doesn't know about Witchy or, if he did know already, he didn't believe it_, Damon thought.

"And to answer your question," Damon continued, "Stefan and I were merely speaking to Elena and Bonnie about keeping quiet about our secret."

"Alright, that makes sense but what's with your relationship with Stefan? Why don't you guys get along?" Ric pushed. The curiosity was getting to him. He wanted some answers.

"You know, I should just refuse to answer your questions…" Damon said darkly, his mind clearly drifting off to old memories.

Alaric was on a mission now. He was determined to find out why the brothers didn't get along, especially now that it was clear that Damon was avoiding the topic.

"If you don't tell me, I'll ban you from hitting on Elena." It was an empty threat but Ric knew it would lighten the mood and, with some luck, snap Damon back to the present day.

Damon's head whipped around to look at his friend. He took in the mockingly serious expression on his face and laughed. "You're an idiot, Ric."

"Hey, don't knock it. It worked." Ric laughed. "Now, tell me why you and your brother don't get along."

Damon sighed, resigned to the fact that he was going to have to explain himself. "Women. We have the same taste in women. Over the years, we've clashed but it all comes down to the love of a woman." Damon took a moment to decide on the most concise way to explain his history with Stefan…

"Back when we were human, we met a woman, Katherine. We both fell for her and we soon discovered that she was a vampire. She turned us both, faked her death and then left us behind."

Ric was stunned. He could hear the bitterness and pain in Damon's voice. "Wow, Damon. I'm sorry." Ric said, his voice low and wary. He had never seen Damon react like this to anything before so he wasn't sure how he would behave.

But, like the flick of a switch, Damon returned to his normal self. "You're sorry?" He said, "Don't feel sorry for me. She was a crazy bitch. I should've seen it coming." He laughed and Ric cautiously followed his lead.

"Anyway, there's not much more to it than that." Damon said, "There's sibling rivalry and when you've lived for as long as Stefan and I have, it gets complicated." Damon shrugged.

"Right, that makes sense." Ric replied, unsure of what else to say. He had never seen that side of Damon before and he wasn't sure whether or not it was safe.

Thankfully, at that point, they arrived out the front of the Gilbert House.

"You don't want to come in?" Ric asked.

Damon gave his friend a disbelieving look. "Come on, Ric. Do you really think I want to hang around for the high school reunion?"

Ric laughed and climbed out of the car. "I'll see you later for the party then."

"I'll be there!" Damon replied with mock excitement before putting the roof of his car down and speeding away from the house.

"Such an arse." Ric chuckled as he shook his head and turned towards the house.

_Ok, get your head in the game, _he thought as he walked towards the front steps of the house, _It's surprise time! So, Damon dropped me off after work_. _That's nothing out of the ordinary. Jenna won't suspect a thing._

Ric had a quick look at his phone as he opened the front door. He felt it buzz on the car ride with Damon but he was too distracted by their conversation to pay any attention to it. It was a text message from Elena:

_I'm inside and Bonnie parked around the corner. Once you get here, we can tell Bonnie to sneak around the back and we'll lead Jenna out. It's going to be awesome!_

Ric chuckled. He didn't care that Damon made fun of them for their "high school reunion". After all, it's the little things in life that make you happy. After seeing that small glimpse of emotion in Damon today, he thought that maybe his friend could use some more of those little things - the genuine stuff - rather than the shallow, womanizing habits he so happily lived with.

Ric heard voices in the kitchen and, as he rounded the corner, he received a knowing smile from Elena and and loving smile from Jenna. Routine kicked in and he ducked around the kitchen bench to reach Jenna.

As her Aunty was giving Ric a "welcome home" kiss - a.k.a. full-on making out with him - Elena announced that she needed to go to the toilet. She wandered upstairs and sent a text to Bonnie:

_Ric's home. It's go time! Text me when you're in position._

To keep up the charade, Elena went into the bathroom, flushed the toilet and washed her hands. _Why not?_ She figured.

She wandered back downstairs, hoping Jenna and Ric had stopped playing tonsil hockey, and her phone buzzed just as she walked into the kitchen.

Bonnie: _In position! Ah! So excited!_

Ric had now started helping Jenna prepare a salad and he looked at Elena expectantly as she checked her phone. She responded with a subtle nod.

"So, Jenna…" Ric began slowly. "How much do you trust us?"

Jenna stopped cutting a tomato and looked between Elena and Ric but they weren't giving anything away.

"What happened? Is it bad?" Jenna asked, immediately starting to worry.

"No, no, no, Jenna. Everything's fine." Elena cut in quickly. She didn't want to panic a pregnant woman. "Ric is just going to cover your eyes," she nodded to Ric, "and I'm going to lead you out the back."

"Alright…" Jenna said but she was no longer worried. Elena was beginning to look excited so this was clearly some sort of happy surprise.

As Ric positioned himself behind Jenna to cover her eyes, Elena moved around in front of Jenna so she could hold her hands and lead her out the door. They moved slowly, not wanting to startle Jenna or trip her up. They were almost shaking with excitement by the time they got out the door and Bonnie was in clear sight.

"Ready on one?" Ric asked. Elena nodded. "Three… Two… One…"

"Surprise!" Ric, Elena and Bonnie shouted in unison.

"Oh my god!" Jenna was stunned. She hadn't known what to expect but it certainly wasn't Bonnie, standing there, in the flesh.

She ran to Bonnie and gave her a big hug, squeezing her tight and not letting go. At this point, thanks to her pregnancy, her hormones took over and she started crying.

"Oh my god. This is so embarrassing but I've missed you so much and now I've got two of my girls back. I couldn't be happier." She pulled away from Bonnie and smiled at her but a noise behind her caught her attention.

Jenna whirled around to see Ric and Elena laughing. "You two!" She turned on them, trying to act angry but she couldn't keep the smile of her face, "How did you keep this a secret?!"

"In my defence, it was sprung on me today in much the same fashion." Elena said between fits of laugher.

"I'm sorry," Ric said, laughing so hard he could hardly get the words out, "but your reaction was priceless. It was so worth it."

Jenna laughed and punched him in the arm. An amused expression on her face, she shook her head and turned back to Bonnie, hooking their arms together and leading her into the house.

"These two are ridiculous." Jenna said in a mock serious tone. "I think we should lock them out until they calm down and apologise. What do you think?"

"Yeah, I can back that." Bonnie responded, grinning.

That stopped the laughter in its tracks. Elena and Ric exchanged a glance before throwing themselves at the door but they were too late. Bonnie and Jenna had been too fast in closing and locking the door behind them.

As Elena and Alaric knocked and solemnly apologised for keeping secrets from Jenna, the tides had turned with Jenna and Bonnie in hysterical fits of laughter inside the house. They let the half-fake-half-genuine apologies continue, making them wait for a couple of minutes before eventually opening the door.

"Get in here, you two idiots." Jenna said, hugging them both. She let out a contented sigh. She was always happy with Ric but there was something special about having more of her loved ones around. She hadn't felt this happy and light-hearted in a long time. None of them had.

"Now, get to work, you lot." Jenna commanded, still laughing a bit. "We need to prepare for dinner or do you want the pregnant woman to do all the work?"

"Yes, ma'am." Elena replied jokingly, heading into the kitchen. Bonnie followed Elena's lead but Ric turned to Jenna, wrapping his arms around her.

"Did you like your surprise?" He asked, not entirely convinced that she wasn't upset with him. He didn't expect to get locked outside, after all.

"I loved it, Ric." Jenna replied. "You know how much I love these girls. Nothing could make me happier than to have them here with me. Thank you." She turned to him and pressed her lips to his. "You're so good to me."

"Well, I try." He replied, a cheeky grin on his face.

Jenna laughed. "Shut up and go help the girls prepare for dinner." She said, giving him a shove towards the kitchen. She stopped for a moment and took in the image of the three of them in the kitchen. _Three of the people I love most in the world._ _What would I do without them?_ She wondered before smiling to herself and joining them.

**A/N: **I realise this ending may come across as one of those too good to be true moments… As though someone is going to die any second because everyone is too happy. Maybe that's just me… The shows I watch have conditioned me to think that way lol. Anyway, if anyone else got that vibe, I can assure you that I have no intentions of killing any characters so you don't need to worry.

I hope you liked this chapter. Thanks again for reading/favouriting/following. Please review :)


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read/favourite/follow. A special thank you to YAZMIN V - I can't express how encouraging it is to get reviews. Really… Thank you SO much. I'm very sorry I've taken so long to update. I'm still struggling a bit in regards to where this story is going and I don't want to publish anything that I may want to change later.

**Just a quick note:** I try to Americanise my writing a bit since the show and, by default, this story, is set in the United States but, occasionally, my Aussie slang may seep in. On that note, I understand alcohol can be purchased in supermarkets in some countries. That's not the case in Australia - we have separate liquor stores - so I've just referred to it as "the store" (meaning either the supermarket or the bottle-o. That way, it'll make sense no matter where you're from).

**Disclaimer: As always, I don't want to claim any aspect of The Vampire Diaries as my own. I simply love the characters and love playing with them outside of the show :)**

**Chapter 7**

"Ok, Elena, do you mind running to the store quickly to pick up some wine?" Ric asked. Bonnie and Elena were just finishing hanging the decorative lanterns. As it turned out, Jenna, in her pregnancy induced stay-at-home boredom, had gone a little bit crazy online, buying decorations for the welcome home party. "I'd ask Jenna but she gets a bit jealous when other people are drinking and she's not able to join in." The girls laughed.

"Sounds about right. Always the life and soul of the party, that one." Elena commented, chuckling to herself. She would always remember the times Jenna would let her have a sneaky drink at the founders parties. It certainly made the otherwise boring events a little more tolerable.

"Yeah, she's a lot of fun. I think she misses it but not like she used to." Ric replied.

"Speaking of which, she seems to be taking to the 'parental responsibility' thing well." Elena commented. "I can't believe you roped her into making breakfasts." She joked.

"Well, think of how well she handled everything with Jeremy." Bonnie chimed in. "He was a real challenge for a while there but she dealt with it and got him back on track unbelievably well."

"Yeah," Ric smiled, "She takes to it like a duck to water. She's going to be a great Mum."

"I never doubted that for a second. Actually, that was my first thought when you guys told me. She's going to be amazing." Elena agreed, smiling. "Speak of the devil…"

"Alright," Jenna was making her way outside to join the trio, carrying a wide array of serving utensils and laying them out alongside the vast spread of salads, meats and vegetables. "What do we have left to do?" She asked.

"I'm just about to head down to the shops to pick up some wine." Elena replied. "Any special requests, Ric?"

As soon as she'd taken the special orders - apparently the citizens of Mystic Falls had become picky since the girls had been at college - she jumped in her car and drive down the familiar streets to the store. However, when she pulled into a parking space and recognised the car a few spaces down, she let out a frustrated groan.

_Great_, she thought angrily, _why is this town so damn small?_

She climbed out of the car, hoping that she wouldn't have to deal with another unexpected confrontation with Damon Salvatore. _Yes, he's good-looking but how could any self-respecting woman give in to him?_ Elena pondered. He clearly thought he was charming but all she could see was an arrogant man with a giant ego.

In an effort to avoid Damon, Elena pulled her phone out and started checking her emails. _If I don't see him, he won't have any reason to acknowledge me, right?_ She knew it was a weak effort - if he wanted to be her personal pest, he would - but what were her other options? At the very least, she would be able to make her way into the store, escaping the quiet parking lot.

Elena had hardly taken two steps past the car when, as if the universe was actually on her side for once, she heard an entirely unexpected voice.

"Elena?" The voice questioned politely. She looked up.

"Stefan?" She replied, confused but relieved. She didn't trust Stefan at all but, in that moment, he was a far better alternative than his brother. "I thought that car…" She gestured to Damon's car.

"Right," Stefan chuckled, clearly understanding her confusion. "Yeah, that's my brother's car. He sent me here to grab a few drinks for tonight but his car was blocking mine in so, well, you know how it goes."

"Right. Wow. That's such a normal problem to have." Elena chuckled. She didn't trust Stefan but she couldn't help but feel relieved by the fact that it was him she was running into rather than Damon.

Stefan smiled, "You thought we weren't normal?" He teased, jokingly offended.

Elena laughed in response. "Honestly, I'm just glad it's you and not your brother I've managed to run into."

"Really?" He questioned. Elena looked at him in disbelief.

"Yes." She replied, her tone a little more blunt than she intended. "He's such a player. I can't stand people like that."

"Well, you'd be the exception." Stefan replied. "Is that why you were so busy checking your emails?" He asked, smiling at her knowingly.

"You got me." Elena laughed, looking a bit bashful. She knew it was a lame effort and she'd just been called out on it. "Honestly, I was hoping to at least make it inside before running into him."

"Oh, I see." Stefan replied, nodding. "Well, shall we head inside then?" Stefan gestured towards the entrance.

"Sure." Elena replied as she smiled politely at Stefan before walking into the store.

The pair maintained casual and polite conversation as they wandered through the store, occasionally plucking a bottle or two off the shelf and, as they reached the checkout, Elena wondered at how easy it was to talk to Stefan. _They're good at pretending to be human, aren't they?_ Her anti-vampire upbringing chimed in. _That's exactly how they fool you into trusting them_.

Elena sighed inwardly as they made their way back out to the parking lot. _Stefan is just as ridiculously good-looking as his brother but, unlike Damon, he seems so honest and genuine_. She could really see herself falling for a guy like Stefan. _Yes, but he's a vampire_, she reminded herself.

"I guess I'll see you at the party then." Stefan said as they were about to part ways.

"Wait, Stefan." Elena said, quickly catching his attention before he turned to leave. "I wanted to thank you for what you did during the English facility meeting today. I was on the verge of snapping and you saved me from being incredibly rude to some of our, now, co-workers." She smiled at him, trying her best to convey the sincerity of her gratitude.

Stefan smiled at her warmly and let out a small chuckle. Elena didn't think it was possible but that smile lit up his features, making him even more attractive. _He's a vampire_, she thought. _A vampire_. "You're welcome, Elena. I wouldn't have blamed you if you had snapped at them - they deserved it - but I can also understand that you didn't want to make a bad impression."

"Yeah, exactly." Elena said, reaching in her bag for her keys. "Well, at least we made it through our first day as teachers relatively unscathed, right?" _Wait_, she thought, the beginnings of a frown forming on her face, _Stefan could have been around for years longer than I have. Who's to say this was his first day as a teacher?_ Recognising her confusion, Stefan gave Elena a questioning look.

"Um, sorry, I don't mean to be rude but I was just wondering if today was, in fact, your first day as a teacher or if it's just a bit of an act…?"

Stefan, opening his mouth to respond, was interrupted by his phone ringing. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw Damon's name on the screen. He sighed.

"It's Damon." He explained to Elena as he looked down at his phone. "He's probably wondering what's taking me so long. He gets impatient when it comes to his car." He looked up at Elena apologetically. "Do you mind if we continue this conversation later?"

"No, that's fine. I'll see you at the party."

"Thanks Elena. I'll see you soon." Stefan replied, moving towards the car.

As Elena climbed into her car, Stefan answered his phone.

"What is it, Damon?" Stefan asked, his voice irritated.

"Just wondering why you're taking so long, Brother. Surely, after 150 years, you know what you want." Damon replied, sounding bored and impatient.

"I do know what I want." Stefan said, thinking of Elena. _But she deserves better than me_, he thought. _Then again, if Damon's pursuing her, I may need to protect her_. Deep down, Stefan knew it was a poor excuse but he couldn't help himself. She fascinated him. Her politeness and kindness - in spite of knowing his true identity - was extraordinary. "I just ran into a colleague." _Best not to mention which colleague_, he thought. "I'm getting in the car now."

"Well, I wanted to be at Ric's place by now so I'll just meet you there, alright?" Damon responded.

"Okay, Damon. See you there." Stefan replied as they both hung up.

As Elena drove home, she wondered again at the easy conversation she had with Stefan and she realised that, although she had known for years that vampires exist, she didn't know much about them. Yes, she knew the rules. They can't enter a human home without being invited and, of course, she knew how to kill them.

_But everyone in the world knows those things! _She thought.* There must be more to the way they live than that. After all, when they want to be, they are astonishingly good at pretending to be human.* _Damon's lived in Mystic Falls for years now and he's managed to keep himself a secret, only revealing himself to those who would probably figure it out anyway. How does he keep up the act so well? He even walks in the sunlight! And then there's the lifestyle element: Do they always feed from blood bags? Do they always work for their money or do they steal it? Do they just move from place to place so no one notices that they're not aging? It must be exhausting._

As Elena finally pulled into her driveway, her brain was in overdrive and she had compiled a substantial list of questions about vampires. The only problem was, she wasn't sure who to ask. As nice as he appeared, she trusted Stefan as far as she could throw him and she trusted Damon even less. _Even if I approached Damon with these questions, he'd probably just lie to me… But I suppose Ric is an option… He may not have all the answers but he's probably my safest bet. _She concluded.

_But for now… I'm going to stop thinking about vampires and I'm going to have a good night at this party._

**A/N: **As always, thanks for reading. Again, I'm so sorry for the slow update. Please forgive me? :) I'll try to update again very soon to make up for it.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **Hey guys! I'm sorry I've taken so long to update. I hope you don't hate me for it :(

Life's been getting in the way a lot lately so I've been struggling to find myself in the right frame of mind to write this story. On that note, after this chapter, I want to take some time to write more of this story rather than writing it and posting it chapter by chapter. Like I've mentioned before, I have a general idea of where I'd like it to go but I'd like to take some time in order to write ahead. Please forgive me. I hope you still follow the story so you can read it when I (finally) start delivering more chapters than just one every couple of weeks.

Anyway… I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Vampire Diaries. I love the characters though.

**Chapter 8**

"I'm back!" Elena called out cheerfully as she climbed out of the car, hoping to get some help carrying the drinks around to the back of the house. As Elena moved around to the trunk, her attention was caught by a laughing Bonnie who was coming around the side of the house with Jenna.

While Jenna was chuckling along with her, she was also looking a bit embarrassed so Elena gave her a questioning look.

"We were just talking about the time you guys busted Kelly Donovan and I doing shots at The Grill." Jenna chuckled as she explained Bonnie's laughter.

"Oh, you mean when you were being a responsible role model?" Elena teased. Jenna, playing along happily, looked appalled at Elena's words.

"It was early days for me, thank you very much." Jenna took on a jokingly defensive attitude, finishing by saying, "I stopped doing shots as soon as I saw you guys there. It was a good first step for me."

All three of them laughed as they grabbed the drinks and started to make their way around the side of the house.

"Actually, speaking of Kelly Donovan," Jenna commented, looking at Elena, "Matt should be coming tonight."

"That should be interesting." Bonnie said as both she and Jenna looked to gauge Elena's reaction.

"It'll be fine," Elena said, keeping a calm exterior but feeling unbelievably nervous on the inside, "We ended things before I went to college because we knew that the long distance thing would be too hard. It was totally mutual. He's probably well and truly moved on by now." She said. It was clear to Jenna and Bonnie that Elena was trying to convince herself as much as she was trying to convince them that things would be fine with Matt.

"Oh!" Jenna said, stopping in her tracks and making the others follow suit. "Speaking of potentially awkward situations, I wanted to warn you both that Damon's here already."

Bonnie and Elena groaned in unison.

"Is he the only one here so far?" Bonnie asked.

"Yep." Jenna replied, a slightly nervous expression on her face. She knew perfectly well that Elena and Bonnie could stand up for themselves. They'd both had their fair share of sleazy guys hitting on them. But she also knew Damon and she knew that, when he set his sights on a woman, the poor woman didn't stand much of a chance. She thought back to her conversation with Ric the previous night. She'd been hoping that Damon would avoid hitting on Elena out of respect for her their friendship but Ric had been quick to correct that and warn her of the truth.

As Ric had explained it, Jenna hadn't been too concerned but, when she went to bed that night, her mind started working in overdrive and it plunged her head-first into the topic of Damon and Elena. _Yes, Elena's a beautiful woman now and Damon would, obviously, notice that_ _but Elena's smarter than to fall for some sleazy lines and Damon's usual tricks_… _On the other hand, Damon isn't just good looks, trashy pick-up lines and clever tricks. He's actually a decent guy. Deep down… Very deep down, he is loyal, protective, strong and - I hate myself for thinking it - good. THAT is the danger. If Elena sees that side of him, there's a real chance she might fall for him. After all, in that regard, she is so similar to him that it's uncanny. But then again, _an entirely new perspective occured to her, _would that be such a bad thing? She could really help him. She could pull him out of his womanising ways and encourage him to be the decent guy he usually tries to hide…_

Now, despite the fact that Jenna had already come to the conclusion that Damon and Elena getting together might not actually be a bad thing, she still found herself warning the girls of his arrival because she knew that Elena wouldn't be comfortable around him. It wasn't just the womanizing, it was the vampire thing too. Elena didn't know that vampires were anything beyond what she'd been taught about them and, from what Jenna had heard about their first meeting that morning, Elena had no reason to think any differently. Jenna knew that, if anything was going to happen between Damon and Elena, Damon was either going to have to change his approach or she would have to interfere and do a little bit of matchmaking.

"I knew he was going to be here but I was hoping that we might be able to avoid him somehow." Elena commented. After Jenna's warning, the three of them had continued making their way around to the party area and they were just about to round the back corner of the house when they were stopped by a figure walking towards them.

"I hope you ladies aren't talking about little old me?" Asked the unwelcome, yet already annoyingly familiar voice of Damon Salvatore. Having overheard their conversation, he was determined to have some fun with the situation. Elena obviously wanted to avoid him so, naturally, he planned to do his very best to get in her way at every turn.

Jenna, who was still undecided as to whether or not she was willing to interfere, decided against it. She knew Damon well enough to know that he wasn't offended or angered by what he heard, he was simply in a playful yet annoying mood. That being the case, she knew Elena wasn't in any danger so she decided to let things play out.

"Not at all, Damon." Elena replied. She knew perfectly well that, as a vampire, Damon would have heard every single word they had said if he was listening.

"I didn't think so," Damon replied, "No one ever tries to avoid me. In fact, most women throw themselves at me." He looked at Elena with that ridiculously cocky smirk on his face and took step towards her. At this point, he wasn't sure whether he was trying to seduce her or intimidate her but moving into her personal space seemed to serve both purposes. _It worked too_, he thought, _her heart rate's picking up_.

"Charming." Bonnie replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"You would know all about charms, wouldn't you, Witchy?" Damon quipped, throwing a glare at Bonnie before meeting Elena's eyes. "Do my charms work on you, Beautiful?"

_Okay_, Jenna thought, _it looks like I don't need to worry about Damon hitting on Bonnie. There's way too much animosity there_. _I'd better split the two of them up before a fight breaks out._

"Um, Bonnie, maybe we should head inside?" Jenna suggested.

Bonnie, taking the obvious hint but still hesitant to leave Elena alone with a vampire, threw Jenna a puzzled look. Jenna just responded with a reassuring smile and, trusting Jenna but expecting an explanation, Bonnie followed her around to the back of the house. Damon ignored them as they left. He was glad about the witch leaving but he was puzzled by the fact that Jenna would leave him alone with Elena. _I should probably make the most of it_, he thought.

"Really, Damon?" Elena responded. She was so acutely aware of her racing pulse that she didn't even realise her friend and aunt had left. _It's only because he's a vampire_, she thought. _It's nothing to do with how incredibly hot he is_. She was putting up a good front but she was terrified that her nerves might make her voice shake. "Does that usually work for you?"

"Sometimes," Damon shrugged, still smirking. "And, judging by your elevated heart rate, I think it's working right now…" He took another step closer to Elena, making her take a step back and bump into the wall of the house. She'd been walking next to that wall so she had no idea how she'd managed to end up with her back to it. _Probably a very intentional move on Damon's part_, she concluded. _Well, I may not be able to stop him from backing me into a corner but I'm not going show him any signs of weakness_, she thought as she met his gaze with determination.

Elena was used to getting attention from men but this was different. She squirmed internally under Damon's penetrating gaze, feeling exposed and… nervous? _No, it must must be fear_, she tried to convince herself as she felt her whole body buzzing with energy. _It's probably adrenaline since there's a vampire standing less than a foot away from me_, she thought.

But, deep down, she knew better. Her body wasn't alive with fear and adrenaline. In reality, it was burning with excitement and, she hated to admit it, something along the lines of desire… _Lust?_ She thought. _No, surely not._ _He may be unbelieavbly attractive but he's still a vampire._ She thought as she suddenly realised she was still holding a bottle of champagne. She clung on to it, holding it close to her body, like it was her last line of defence. And, in reality, it was. Damon had come so close that her back was flat against wall and the only thing separating their bodies was the bottle of champagne. His eyes occasionally flicked to her lips but would quickly return to meet her eyes, making her more anxious by the second.

Damon could sense Elena's pulse racing and he could also sense her desire. _She'll be in denial though_, he thought, _she'll think that her body is responding with fear due to being in such close proximity with a vampire. It's impressive though - she's not showing any signs of fear or even nerves… And she's refusing to break eye contact with me. I've never seen that before.._. With that thought, Damon took a step back from her, releasing their locked gazes.

The moment Damon stepped away from her, Elena let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding and while she wanted to move, she wasn't sure that her body would allow it yet. Her heart was still racing and she was just hoping that Damon might decide to walk away but he didn't. He was still standing there, staring at her, but it was clear that he wasn't trying to intimidate her. Instead, his gaze fell on the champagne bottle in her hands, her knuckles white from clinging onto it so tight, and he let that damn sexy smirk cross his lips again before taking the bottle from her.

"Well, are you coming?" Damon asked after taking a few steps towards the backyard and pausing when he realised Elena wasn't following. "I wouldn't want Jenna, Ric, or the witch to think I'd done something…" He paused, smirking, "…Dangerous with you."

"Uh, yeah." Elena responded simply. She was still trying to reel her body in and compose herself. She could hardly believe the impact Damon had on her. Nothing had ever shaken her up like that. Pulling herself together, she pushed herself away from the wall and, still keeping her distance, fell in stride with Damon.

They were only walking side by side for a matter of moments and Elena wanted to confront Damon, questioning him as to why he would behave the way he did, but she didn't want her family and friends to know the impact he had on her so she tried to remain as casual as possible as they rounded the corner to join Jenna, Ric and Bonnie.

_Yes, I want to demand answers and tell Damon never to do that again… Whatever it was. _Elena thought. _But I still have questions to ask Ric about vampires _- she shuddered at the realisation that she had actually come face to face with, as the old Gilbert journals so eloquently put it, "the demons of the night" - _So I'll do my best to avoid being alone with Damon until I have some answers. In the meantime, _she decided,* I'm going to get to know some more of my co-workers, reconnect with some old friends and just enjoy the party tonight.*

**A/N: **So… I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. I really don't know if it was any good. I love seeing characters in awkward situations but, at this stage, since Elena is still very skeptical and doesn't trust vampires, I feel that she's still a little bit scared and the fun situations can't be too fun for us… yet ;)

Like I mentioned in the note at the start of the chapter, I won't be updating until I'm a few chapters ahead rather than posting the story chapter by chapter. PLEASE give me feedback though. This is a crucial time for me to receive feedback since I'm going to be writing ahead and I'd like to know where I could improve (or if there are any plot holes I'm missing).

As always… Thanks for reading! :)


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